1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to strong, soft, absorbent tissue products such as facial tissues.
2. Background Art
The common cold and allergies with their associated weeping eyes and runny noses are a bane to mankind. In addition to the difficulties in breathing, seeing, talking, and disposing of nasal discharge, an individual afflicted with these disorders frequently must contend with a nose and areas surrounding it which are sore and irritated and which are, frequently, red and inflammed thereby calling the attention of others to his plight.
The irritation and inflammation-the redness-can have several causes. A prime one is, of course, the sheer necessity of frequently blowing the nose into a tissue or cloth and wiping nasal discharge from the nose and the area surrounding it. The degree of irritation and inflammation caused by blowing and wiping is directly porportional to the surface roughness of the implement used. The degree of irritation and inflammation is also directly proportional to the number of times the nose and its surrounding areas must be contacted with an implement; the use of an implement which is relatively weak or relatively nonabsorbent will require a greater number of contacts with the face than will the use of a stronger or more absorbent implement which is able to contain a greater quantity of nasal discharge.
There have been numerous previous attempts to correct the problem of irritation and inflammation caused by blowing and wiping. One common approach has been to provide an implement which is smoother, softer, or both smoother and softer than previous implements. In modern industrialized societies, that implement is frequently a tissue paper product usually referred to as a facial tissue. Examples of such tissue paper products are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,981 which was issued to Carstens on Nov. 17, 1981 and in the various patents discussed in its specification. Other workers have applied emollients, salves, cleansing agents, and the like to substrates such as tissue paper in an attempt not only to enhance the cleaning of the skin but also to reduce irritation and inflammation either through the lubricity of the substance applied to the implement or through the therapeutic action of the substance. This approach has been applied by, for example, Dake et al in U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,167 issued Sept. 5, 1978 particularly in regard to toilet tissues. It has also been followed by Buchalter in U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,807 issued July 29, 1975 and by Weiss et al in U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,096 issued June 4, 1974.
Despite the efforts of numerous researchers, the problem of the red, sore nose of the cold or allergy sufferer has not yet been completely resolved.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tissue paper product which causes less irritation and inflammation to the nose and the facial areas surrounding it than do previously available products. It is a further object of this invention to provide a tissue paper product which will serve as a source of emollient, salve, cleansing agent, or the like for application to the skin.